Hope everyone enjoys the story! It's a combination of two of my favorite characters.
Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.
The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest.
The laughter had no quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.
It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch…
The last thing Sirius remembered hearing was Harry's frantic screams of "Sirius! Sirius!"
Darkness overtook Sirius' vision and unknowingly he tightened his grip on his wand and transformed into Padfoot, a habit he picked up from years on the run. An overwhelming pressure surrounded him and he lost consciousness.
Prim let out a whimper as lightning struck again. The storm had been ragging all day and showed no sign of letting up. Katniss wrapped her arms around Prim and whispered reassuringly to her, "Don't worry. It's only a storm, little duck. We're safe here."
Prim tightened her hold on Katniss. Katniss tried to convince herself that they would be okay, but the odds weren't in their favor. It had been three months since their father died and Katniss couldn't sign up for tesserae yet. She couldn't remember the last time she ate was. She gave all the food she found to Prim and her mother, though her mother rarely moved from her bed. Katniss gave a worried look out the window. She hadn't been able to leave the house all day to find food. She saw the rain pelting against the dirty window. She needed to go out. Prim hadn't eaten in a few days and Katniss wasn't about to let her starve.
"Prim, why don't you cuddle up with mom?" Katniss peeled Prim's arms from around her neck and tried to steer her towards the bed across from them. Instantly Prim's whole tiny body tensed.
"No! Katniss you can't go! Please," Prim's voice was frantic and she clutched at Katniss' jacket. Katniss grabbed her hands and picked her up. "Prim, I have to. We need food."
A particularly loud clap of thunder sounded throughout the house. The panes of glass rattled in the window. "Katniss, no," tears streamed down Prim's face. "You'll get hurt."
"Prim, I'm going and that's final," Katniss placed her sister down next to her mother. Katniss looked at her mother, whose beautiful blue eyes stared back unblinking. Katniss didn't expect a reaction, but placed a shaking hand onto her mother's matted blonde locks anyway, "Watch after Prim, Mom."
Her mother gave no response but Prim curled underneath her frail arms and nuzzled her head into her mother's shoulders. Katniss draped the worn blue blanket over them. "Stay safe," she whispered as she kissed the top of Prim's head.
Katniss pulled on her worn leather boots that were quickly becoming too small for her feet. She laced them as well as she could wishing that she could afford new ones. She pulled her jacket tightly around her body and tried to ignore the sharp pains in her stomach. She knew she should eat, but she couldn't help but give anything she found to Prim. Without looking back, Katniss exited the house and tried to ignore Prim's whimpers.
It took all of Katniss' strength to make it out of the Seam. She figured her best bet at finding food would be from the trashcans of the merchants. Her whole body was weak from malnourishment and the rain pelting down on her only made it harder to drag her feet through the mud. It felt like hours by the time she reached the center of town. She crouched her way through the brick ally way and peaked her head to see the back of the buildings. She was by the bakery, she could tell because the smell of bread was penetrating the rain. Katniss' stomach rumbled loudly as she took deep breaths of the lovely scent of food. Keeping as low as she could she sneaked back to the metal trash bins that sat next to the pig pens behind the shop.
She glanced inside the shop window and saw a young blonde boy who she knew from school, Peeta Mellark. He was placing bread inside the large fireplace to cook. Katniss vaguely saw the boy's mother walking around the room. She stared longingly at the baking bread wondering how wonderful it must be to have bread whenever you liked. She looked down to the trash can and lifted the lid. Softly placing it on the ground she began to rummage through the contents. There wasn't must in the container, mostly paper and cardboard and what she assumed was old icing bags. She lifted the bag and stared at the pink color of the food. Before it could be washed away in the rain she darted her tongue out and gave a lick. Her eyes widened at the taste. It was delicious.
"GET AWAY! Scram! I'm tired of you Seam brats picking through my trash cans!" It was the baker's wife. Katniss scrambled to back up as the women kicked the trash can. Katniss stumbled to her feet as she ran away from the yelling women. Mrs. Mellark went back inside, still mumbling underneath her breath. Katniss threw herself underneath a tree not too far from the bakery and tightened herself into a ball. She didn't want to, but she let tears stream down her face. How was she supposed to go home with nothing to give Prim or her mother? How was she supposed to even get home? Her whole body protested against the thought of even moving right now.
"You stupid boy! You burned it! Who is going to want to buy burned bread?" it was Mrs. Mellark again. She was yelling at Peeta. Katniss squinted against the rain and saw the women bring a rolling pin down against the side of Peeta's face. He gave a soft cry and staggered out of the house as his mother yelled for him to feed the burned bread to the pigs. He stood outside of the house letting the rain pour down on him. Katniss saw the welt that was already forming underneath his eye. He glanced inside and when he saw his mother walk out of the room he broke off a small section of the bread and threw it to the pigs.
With a final glance inside, he turned his head towards Katniss. With a soft smile he threw the two loaves of bread across the path. They fell a few feet short of where Katniss sat underneath the tree. He looked at her once more then quickly made his way back inside. Katniss' eyebrow scrunched together. Were these for her? They must be. He looked directly at her when he threw them. With a new hope burning she lunged forward for the bread and grabbed a loaf in each hand as she sprinted home. This bread would hopefully last her family the next few days.
She made it home in record time and excitedly showed Prim the fresh bread. It was a bit damp but was better than anything they had eaten in weeks. With food in her stomach for the first time in days Katniss slept easy that night despite the continuous rain.
Not too far from the Everdeen house, just over the electric fence that guarded the District, a bright flash engulfed the woods and as the light faded one could make out the shape of a large black dog lying in the bush of the forest. The dog gave a halfhearted attempt to lift his head but couldn't muster up the energy to move anymore. He flopped his head back down and succumbed to sleep again.
It was over two days later before he was spotted.
Katniss stopped in her tracks when she saw the large dog. Even though he was unconscious his form was still impressive and Katniss debated between running from him and shooting at him. She drew her bow out. She had only just uncovered it today. It had sat in the woods for months after her father's death. Peeta Mellark's generous action had sparked hope in Katniss and when she saw the dandelion the next day she knew what she was going to have to do. If she wanted to keep her family alive then she was going to have to hunt outside the woods for food. Still, she hadn't shot anything without her father and her hands shook as she pointed at the black mutt.
With a whimper Sirius regained consciousness and took a long sniff. He smelled the outdoor, something he hadn't experienced since his lock up at Grimmauld Place. He slowly opened his eyes to see that he was somewhere in a forest. He lay there remembering Harry's screams before he lost consciousness. How did he get here? Where was he? Was Harry okay? The last question haunted him. He had let Harry down. He had gotten arrogant and Bellatrix got the best of him. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself had something happened to his godson because he got knocked threw the veil. Sirius still felt drained and decided not to risking transforming back to his human form in case he wasn't strong enough to make it. With the resolve to live as Padfoot for a little while longer he lifted his head and saw an arrow pointed at him.
His eyes widened, or widened as much as they could for a dog. What the hell was going on? Who was this girl? He didn't move as he looked at the girl. She was skinny, far skinnier than she should be. He instantly felt sympathy for her. Hunger was something he knew well. Her scrawny frame reminded him far too much of himself and Harry. She looked young, a few years younger than Harry; Barely old enough to start Hogwarts. Sirius whimpered at her, and lowered his head.
Her grey eyes, so similar to his, glanced around franticly. She looked torn between what to do. Sirius felt a connection to this girl. He wanted to help her. He also didn't want to get shot. Harry would never forgive him if he survived the Veil just to get killed by a young girl.
Katniss didn't know what to do. The dog stared up at her with large grey eyes. He wasn't attacking her. She knew she should shoot him. His meat could feed us for a week. He began crawling towards her. She tightened her grip on the bow and prepared herself to fire when he nuzzled his nose against her foot and let out a whimper. She took one hand off her bow and ran it through his soft black fur. He started panting and leaned into her palm and lolled his tongue out at her.
She didn't fight the smile on her face when he grinned up at her. She couldn't bring herself to shoot the dog. He was the first animal she had seen since deciding to come to the forest and he seemed harmless enough. She decided to let him go. With a final pet she slung her bow over her should and began to trek away from the dog.
When she heard a branch snap she looked back and saw the dog following at her heels. She let out a sigh, "No. Don't follow me. Isn't it enough I decided not to shoot you? Shoo! Go on before I change my mind."
Go where? Sirius thought to himself. He didn't even know where he was. She would be his best bet at getting back to civilization and he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to find his godson. He butted her knee with his head and stared up at her. Fat chance. I'm coming with you, girlie.
Stupid mutt, Katniss thought. "Fine, come on then."
Padfoot followed the young girl around for the rest of the day as she tried to hunt through the forest. Sirius had to hand it to the girl. For her age she was a good shot, however her nerves seemed to get the best of her and she was always slightly off. After her fifth failed attempt to take down an animal Katniss gave a frustrated sigh and slumped down against a tree. She listened to the crunch of leaves as the dog trotted back towards her with her arrow hanging out of his mouth. He had been doing it all day. After every missed shot he would run off only to return moments later with her arrow. It saved her a lot of work and she felt better about sparing the dog's life. At the same time she couldn't help but question where the large creature had come from. Someone must have owned him. No wild dog was that tame or that smart.
He dropped the arrow at her feet and curled up next to her. The sun was beginning to set and it was far too cold for this girl, whose name he still didn't know, to be out here anymore. He stared at her imploringly, hoping she would take the hint to start heading home. "Stop staring at me," She snapped. "I can't go home empty handed. Hunting was supposed to be what would save me. I can't go back to Prim and Mom without anything to eat."
Was this her only source of food? Sirius didn't know who Prim was but he whimpered at the young girl who seemed so determined to protect her family. She's just like Harry. Sirius perked his ears up and strained to listen. In the distance a twig snapped and he took off. He hadn't needed to hunt down his own food since the Triwizard Tournament, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to. Padfoot's massive size made him quite good at it. He spotted the wild bird that was wondering the forest floor. It flapped its winds furiously, attempting to escape him, but he descended upon it before it could take flight. His teeth locked around the animal and he quickly snapped the neck. He didn't like killing, but it had been necessary to survive after Azkaban and he wasn't going to let this girl starve when he could help her. He ran quickly back to her and dropped the bird at her feet. She stared at him in shock, her grey eyes wide. He nudged it towards her. Take the bird, he mentally willed her. With tears in her eyes she threw herself at him and hugged him whispering, "Thank you so much."
It felt good for Sirius to help her. Looking after her distracted him from thoughts of Harry and Remus. He hoped his friend was okay. He still didn't know where he was and depending on how far it was from England it might take him a while to get home. Remus would be stuck on his own for the full moon this month. He licked the side of her face, hoping she would head home so he could better understand his surroundings.
Sure enough, she stood up with the bird in her hand and looked at him, "C'mon, boy. Let's get home. Prim is gonna love having a dog." Padfoot wagged his tail and gave a happy bark. He followed the girl back through the forest and watched her store the bow and arrows underneath a blanket of leaves and moss. Not too far from the hiding place Padfoot began to hear sounds of civilization. He wagged his tail even faster. Hopefully he wasn't too far from England; perhaps he was even in England! That would make it much easier to get back to Grimmauld Place, a thought he never imagined being happy about. Quickly, a large fence came into view. He watched in confusion as the young girl wormed her way underneath it. Was she not supposed to be in the forest? He followed her and crawled on his belly towards her. When he got out from underneath the metal fence he looked around the area. He could see buildings not too far from here, but he would hardly call this place a city.
"Welcome to District 12, dog," The girl gestured at him. Her braid whipped around her face as she held her hands out and sarcastically said, "We're the mining district, don't you know? Not that that means anything, we're still the poorest district in all of Panem."
District 12? Mining? What the hell is Panem? Sirius didn't recognize anything the young girl was saying. Where the bloody hell was he? With a sickening feeling he trotted after her. He kept glancing in all directions hoping to see anything familiar. They passed a beautiful meadow, but it was arguably the only beautiful thing in the place. The buildings got closer and closer together the longer they kept walking. The houses were poorly kept and Sirius was having flashback to Grimmauld Place. Katniss hurried to an off white house and Padfoot followed after her. The inside wasn't better than the outside. There were only a few rooms in the house, a bathroom, kitchen/livingroom, and a bedroom.
Padfoot followed the girl into the house, trying his best not to leave paw prints on the scratched wooden floor. A young girl sat at the kitchen table. She was even younger than the girl he had found in the forest. Her hair was light blonde and pulled into two braids on either side of her head. When the door swung shut she peaked her head up, "Katniss!"
Katniss? Is that her name? Padfoot glanced at the dark haired girl and saw her smile, "Hey there, little duck. I brought you something." Katniss looked down at Sirius. The blonde stared at him in either shock or awe. He wasn't sure which yet. He lolled his tongue out at her, and wagged his tail. "Don't worry Prim, he's safe. He even brought us dinner." Katniss held up the dead bird to prove her point.
"Oh!" Prim said as she stared at the bird. She shifted her gaze to Padfoot and hesitantly walks over to him. Padfoot snickered to himself. The young girl didn't even reach his shoulders when standing. She's small enough to ride him. He nudged her hand and in seconds Prim is cooing at him and telling him how pretty he is.
Katniss sits down to prepare the bird for dinner. As she plucks the feather out she gives Primrose a grin, "He's going to need a name, you know."
Prim looks up from scratching his ears, "I can name him?"
"If you want," Katniss tells her.
Prim seems to be in deep thought, "Fluffy! Since he is so furry."
Padfoot shakes his head at the name, not sure if it is better or worse than Snuffles. "I'm not calling him Fluffy, Prim. What about something a little manlier?"
Prim huffs as her name is passed over, "Fine, what about…Bear? He's about as big as one."
Katniss agrees to the name and the rest of the night is spent getting the bird cooked. Katniss gives a leg to Sirius when his stomach grumbles, "Here ya go, boy. You earned it." He feels guilty about taking food from them, but can't resist the smell of the meat. As Padfoot, or "bear" as he was being called, curled up next to the bed for the night he promises himself that tomorrow morning he'll begin his search to figure out where he was and try to make his way back to Harry.
Let me know what you thought!
